Volkswagen Site Launch

Client: Volkswagen
Challenge
This year Volkswagen created a website which is the antithesis of the perceived ‘nightmare’ showroom experience. The brief was to highlight Volkswagen’s innovative approach to automotive retailing by promoting the website and its customer facing tools and services. There were two critical challenges:
To demonstrate digital innovation while drawing upon, and building on, the Volkswagen brand’s reputation for reliability and certainty (something of a juxtaposition).
To ensure customers recognised the relevance of the website to Volkswagen’s business of making and selling cars
Insight
Buying a car is a daunting experience for many. Aggressive salesmen, technical data and so many model choices that it’s hard to distinguish your A3 from your C2. Despite an opportunity to address these issues, most manufacturers simply replicated their confusing sales environments online.
Volkswagen didn’t – instead they created a website, which is the antithesis of the perceived ‘nightmare’ showroom experience.

Response: Impact
The website received its highest number of visitors to date during the campaign period.
In the first 2 weeks alone, the campaign generated 37,025 arrivals to volkswagen.co.uk, 611 brochures viewed and 3,478 retailer searches.
In addition, 23% of the users recorded landing at the Volkswagen.co.uk homepage navigated to the retailer search pages.
Volkswagen UK became the most visited automotive website at the end of 2008, outperforming sales where they are currently 3rd.